{"id":9881,"date":"2011-12-28T13:49:47","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T13:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=9881"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=9881","title":{"rendered":"The Bluegrass Derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most coveted race in North America<\/st1:place> is the Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Trainers and Owners from around the world fantasize about winning the race often referred to as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

The first Bluegrass Derby was run on May 1, 1999.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>PHARRUN PROSPECT<\/B> rallied from seven lengths back to be the first simulated horse to wear the garland of roses<\/I>. \u00a0<\/SPAN>I SEEK U<\/B> electrified the crowd with his 2003 gate to wire victory in the Bluegrass<\/st1:place> and went on his way to become the first and only simulated horse to win the illustrious Triple Crown.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>VIRTUOSO<\/B> became the first and only horse in Derby<\/st1:City> history to attain glory without recording a triple digit speed figure in any race prior to winning the Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Last year saw INDY STORM CAT (CA)<\/B> become the first local bred to seize top honors while running the fastest Bluegrass Derby in history in a sizzling 2:00 4\/5.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Still the question remains; what do I have to do to win the Bluegrass Derby?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Is there a Recipe for Success?<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

First things first\u2026Every Bluegrass Derby winner but the very first one, who by the way started his career as a computer owned horse, has raced and won as a two year old.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In all likelihood you are planning for the 2013 Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> winner at this point.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Like all the great Stakes winners in this game, it starts with the breeding.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Start by going through all your retired mares, or the mares\/he mares to be.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Since 2002 only one scratch-bred horse has ever won the Bluegrass<\/st1:place>, GRANHEE<\/B>. Every other winner was bred to a game mare.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Breed using a game mare and improve your potential for success by 90%.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Every Bluegrass<\/st1:place> winner, with the exception of one, had a Dosage index under 4.00.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Although dosage can be disputed on so many levels, the facts are the facts.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Calculate your dosage before you accept your Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> bred.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There are several tools available to make these calculations but whatever tool you are using, make sure the chef-de-race<\/I> list is updated.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The ideal dosage for the Derby<\/st1:City> distance is a Dosage Index between 2.25 and 2.60 and a Center<\/st1:PlaceType> of Distribution<\/st1:PlaceName><\/st1:place> between 0.49 and 0.57.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Feel free to contact me for any help in calculating dosage for your Derby Bred.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

I\u2019m sure you were just as impressed as I when the California<\/st1:State> bred INDY STORM CAT (CA) <\/B>became the first local bred horse to win the derby, but did you know he was only the third horse bred outside of Kentucky<\/st1:State> to win the Bluegrass<\/st1:place>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Want to increase your chances of winning the Bluegrass Derby, breed a horse from the Bluegrass<\/st1:place> state.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

OK, so now you have completed breeding your Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> winner, but there is one thing I forgot to tell you, you need a colt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>No filly has ever won the Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>You should also know that getting a colt doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t be revisiting the breeding shed to repeat the ingredients.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Every great cook will tell you that even if you follow the recipe to perfection, you can still ruin the desert.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Once your worthy steed arrives in your barn you will need to find out if he is good enough to plot a course along the derby trail.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Don\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t have to wait long to find this out.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Every Bluegrass<\/st1:place> winner, with the exception of HOT AND SPICY<\/B>, broke their maiden in either their first or second start.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Two starts, no wins, back to the breeding shed you go.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Lucky enough to win one of your first two starts and you are on your way.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Now of course you already know you are going to have to earn some stakes qualifying points to even qualify for the derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Eight of the last Derby<\/st1:City> winners have won a Grade One prior to winning the Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. \u00a0<\/SPAN>There is no better way to earn qualifying points than by winning a Grade One.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Of course you can always go to the head of the class by capturing one of the eight coveted Derby Lock Prep Races carded prior to the Run for the Roses.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Since 2007 when Lock Races were incorporated, in four of those five years a Derby Lock Prep winner won the Bluegrass<\/st1:place>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Can your horse go the distance?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Every Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> winner with the exception of one has won a race of nine furlongs or longer prior to winning the derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Ideally, win a nine furlong Grade 1 Lock race and you got all the angles covered in one race.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Do it with a triple digit speed figure and you will join every Derby<\/st1:City> winner but VIRTUOSO <\/B>to record a triple digit speed figure prior to winning the Bluegrass<\/st1:place>.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Does your horse have enough early pace to win the Derby<\/st1:City><\/st1:place>?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Only three horses, 2006 winner VIRTUOSO<\/B>, 2007 winner ATAUN<\/B>, and last years winner INDY STORM CAT (CA) <\/B>have ever won the Bluegrass<\/st1:place> coming from more than eight lengths back at the second and\/or third race call.<\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

Now if all of that isn\u2019t enough to just settle for a claiming title instead, consider that ten of the last eleven Derby<\/st1:City> winners won their final prep before winning the Derby<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Oh, and be sure they get at least four weeks rest prior to that first Saturday in May.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Nine of the last eleven winners had at least that much relaxation before entering into the derby starting gate. <\/P>

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/P>

So there you have it, a simple recipe to follow for winning the Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Don\u2019t improvise, don\u2019t substitute ingredients, and for god\u2019s sake don\u2019t blame me for ruining the desert.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Let me know how you make out, I been trying to put this recipe together for years\u2026Alas, I\u2019m not a very good cook\u2026I think I\u2019ll go out for dinner. <\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Recipe for Success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":443,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}